Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Show 'Stelly Some Love!

Get ready for the return of Estelle, as she drops the sublime American Boy, featuring none other than her mate Kanye West.

Head to Kanye's blog and you can hear the track for yourself...("Tell em wha'gwan blad.")

Once you've done that, you can read a bit of my interview with her where she breaks down what's hot in NYC, if you fancy...

Nice.

Bit of Estelle interview what took place last September in Brooklyn, New York...

What do you miss about the UK?I miss my Ribena! It’s stuff that I wouldn’t normally eat at home that I miss like fish and chips and kebabs. Everything’s a big meal here to, you can’t just run and pick something up. Even at KFC you’re gonna get gravy, mashed potatoes, corn and you have to sit down and take 10 years to eat it. Everything’s too big, too many choices. I just eat fruit instead.

What’s hot here, musically?It’s the same five tracks here and the good stuff doesn’t get play. Right now it’s Soulja Boy - I know the dance too, which I’m ashamed to admit. Keyshia Cole is doing her thing too. But I don’t really listen to the radio too much. I’ll listen to the Kinks, Beach Boys, the Arctic Monkeys are dope, Snow Patrol…I don’t give a shit, I love that stuff.

Where are the party spots?You know you have to go to the Belmont Lounge! Sunday night is the spot. It’s like a back-of-the-ends club at home. They take all the different styles of reggae and play them and it’s like being in someone’s kitchen but you’re in the club in New York. I’m like, give me a Malibu and Coke! Also, Lotus is pretty standard on a Wednesday, it’s a pretty good night. Then you have APT on a Thursday. It’s broken beat, like Amplified but the people are more hype and they wile out dance. You have house upstairs and people are smoking weed. It’s a good spot.

Where’s good to eat?There’s Union Square Coffee Shop/ Cafeteria, which is open till 4, 5 in the morning. It’s a good place to eat when you’ve been out.

Manicures?I’ve just moved to Brooklyn so I go to Jay Nails on Jay Street. Fulton Mall, or Flatbush, standard. The most you’ll pay is $30 for everything, in Manhattan it’s like $50. Unless you go to Soho Nails, which is like $24. Jay Nails - 8607 4th Av, BrooklynSoho Nails - 458, West Broadway (between Prince and Houston)

Where do you shop till you drop?Intermix, cos I’m a bougie b*tch! I go to all those places like Tori Burch, around Soho in Spring and Prince Street and then also the west Village for the boutique-y stuff that looks vintage. The east village is pure vintage though. You can get a dress for $5 that someone’s mum had hanging in the back of the wardrobe and revamp it. Oh, and Opening Ceremony, just off Broadway, before Canal St, is amazing. They’ve got Top Shop, Cheap Monday, the best clothes, that place is my shit. Intermixonline.com (98 Prince St)Opening Ceremony: 35 Howard St (just off Broadway, by Canal)

Now for the important bit…the men?! Listen, the variety is fantastic! Where have they been all of our lives? The downside is that they got too much game. Before you can even say your second name, they’re going to tell you how pretty your eyes are and all that. And they have this dating thing that I’m completely un-down with. You date people and then they might ask you to go ‘exclusive’ which means they won’t date the 40 other girls they’ve been seeing. It’s just a way to have your cake and eat it until they decide what they want. It’s bullsh*t. If I Ruled The World…I would rather there was awareness on the sh*t that’s happening in Darfur and round the world, and less on whether Britney keeps her kids. No one gives a f*ck. We need to care about people killing each other because they’re lighter or darker than each other. Lets sort out that sh*t. It won’t solve itself.

Where’s your favourite place in the world?My bed, in my flat, in London. It’s the most comfortable place in the world. People come round just to lay down and sleep. My bed is the sh*t. I got a mattress from Ikea, I’m not gonna front - it’s amazing.